Room 247
by TusDein
Summary: Hikaru Hitachin never could keep his eyes off the spoiled little brat he was forced to go to school with. He hated her, he loved her. HikaruOC. ONESHOT.


She was flawless. She was rich. She was smart. She was healthy. She was infamous. She was famous. She was a work of art.

And the older Hitachin twin loved that about her.

She was high-strung and high-maintenance. She was mean. She treated others like dirt. She threw money around. She readily assumed that money would solve everything. She was a downright spoiled princess.

And the older Hitachin twin hated that about her.

They learned. The Hitachin twins had learned enough from Haruhi and the host club. Kaoru was grateful for it, Hikaru a little more defensive. He tried hard. No one knew how hard he had tried to keep their world, their own. And little could be said of it, seeing how he had lost his war.

Kaoru's eyes wandered over to his brother who sat close by. He had been staring at the girl for a while now and he wondered if he was alright. Kaoru looked at the girl, face contorted in disgust.

Ayumi Kosaku, self-proclaimed princess of Ouran High School.

She was sitting on her desk with a dozen boys and girls around, laughing, smiling, and soaking up the attention. If she would laugh, they would laugh. If she stopped, they would to. Then she'd hand out money, as if she was dealing out cards to gamblers.

Even if they didn't need the money, they'd still take it to add to their own wealth. She knew well enough they didn't and she knew that these people surrounding her never were her friends, but she didn't care. People were all the same to her.

They were mindless pawns who are nothing more beside the iridescent glow of wealth-hoarding opportunities. They were mindless, impulsive creatures that prayed on others that held high-ranking in their world. They were easily swayed by pretty paper with pretty pictures and pretty documents with pretty signatures. Easily controlled by greed.

Hikaru watched her with an observant eye as she threw money on the floor, and gliding up to the teacher saying this was too boring. She disgusted him, but the thought of him accepting that was harder than his brother could understand.

There was something about her that he couldn't place. Something that had been off since the very first time he saw her in High School. She had a dead-ness around her but no one ever saw it, they were all too busy getting swayed by the tons of money she would spew out every day.

Kaoru looked from his brother to her. He couldn't put that look into words, but he was sure he had seen it before...but never on Hikaru's face. Could it be the crush look? He thought, appalled by the mere self-suggestion. But deep down, he couldn't deny it completely.

It was the same look he used to have when he once liked Haruhi.

Kaoru was thankful, of course, that his brother was getting past the post-world destruction phase he had gone through. It was a difficult time for both of them, but unfortunately for Kaoru, he was the first to recover from it. He couldn't help Hikaru at all, he knew his brother had to do it for himself...but he cursed God, why her!

"Your class is boring. Here," Ayumi instructed, tossing a new set of bills to the teacher, "buy yourself some hostess, or prostitute, I don't care. Have some fun, but come back only when you can teach this class in a "fun" way." Her tone was mocking, and the teacher could only stand there and stare. He never heard a student with such a foul mouth. Though no profanities were spoken, the words themselves were like daggers into his ears.

"What are you waiting for? Go," she insisted, crossing her arms in front of her and raising a smug look.

The class was silent, just watching her...waiting for some reaction, some explosion to occur.

And by damn, did they get one.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" a red-headed twin shouted from his seat. Every turned towards him, eyes growing wide with shock. They all assumed the worst of it.

"Is there something you'd like to say, Mr. Hitachiin?" she asked, ignoring the prostate teacher in front.

"Damn right. What the hell is wrong with you? Why the hell are you doing this?" he asked, quickly coming closer to her. He stood towering over her, faces close to one another.

"Because I can." She answered, spite dripping at the end of each word, "why should you care? You and I are nothing more than schoolmates. The lowest of our world's social hierarchy."

"What do you treat people like shit? Even scumbags deserve more than how you treat everyone," he retorted, his voice rising to bellowing shouts.

"Because that's how people should be treated. That's what they amount to. You flash them enough bills and promise to pay for the hospital charges, and they'll go jump off a cliff for you with nothing on," she answered, not caring that it was insulting everyone who "adored" her presence.

"Why do you like controlling people? What the hell would you get out of it!" He was walking on thin ice, pushing the buttons that would bring him further into her psyche. She was getting uncomfortable with it; this would never happen in her world.

"Why are you asking so many questions?" She screamed angrily, "Why does it matter to you?"

"Because there's something more to you that I can't place!" He admitted, shouting it out for the entire floor to hear.

Ayumi stared at him, eyes growing wide for a second but falling dim the next. She was done here. There was nothing more to say. Hikaru had done his job, she was gone.

She stomped out of class, holding her head high in pride. If he had insulted her, he didn't know. But what he knew was how much he trembled. How the very fabric of his being, shook from the shock of his actions.  
Brusquely, he walked back to his seat. All eyes were on him as he sat down on the wooden desk, all mouths agape, all breaths held, and all thought running.

He spoke defiantly against the Queen...and they couldn't believe it.

Hikaru rode the elevator up, holding the briefcase in one hand. He was nervous for this meeting, and not having Kaoru beside him made it even worse. This would be the moment that decided all for him and he knew he couldn't mess this up.

He came to the 37th floor and knocked on the only door there. From inside, he could hear the soft footsteps on carpet that got louder as the inhabitant moved to concrete ground.

The door swung open quickly and he was met with an angry sound, "what took you so lo-" He looked at her and blinked, an awkward silence hanging over them.

She slammed the door quickly, locking it behind her. What in the world was Hikaru Hitachiin doing here?

"Ayumi," he called out, "I came here to give you your briefcase."

She stared suspiciously at him, hands slowly grabbing the bag she left behind. "What's you price?" she asked, tossing the useless thing on a chair beside her.

It was his turn to stare. He looked, stunned. Had she just asked him what his price was? What did she mean? He made out for words but none would come to him.

She leaned against a leg, impatiently. God, must she do everything around here? "So what do you want for bringing this to me? I'm guessing you don't need any cash. How about the latest, unreleased Porsche? Or a personal robot butler? Or would you like a star named after you?" She suggested, sarcastically.

His mouth was slightly hanging now. How, in the world, could she suggest such a thing? Payment for kindness?

"That's okay...I don't need anything...I just wanted to apologize and bring you your bag..." Hikaru replied, feeling as though his own mouth was foreign to him.

She raised an eyebrow in amusement, "nothing? You want nothing for being apologetic? For being kind? No one in the world is nice without expecting payment, what makes this any different?"

"Not everything has a price, you know," he replied, his anger for her from earlier, surfacing to rear its ugly head.

"Sure they do. Everything and everyone has a price, that's what makes them so easy." She replied, so confident and so sure of herself. He couldn't understand it.

"What is wrong with you?" he asked again, "why can't you understand that not everyone has a price!"

She narrowed her eyes at him, anger building up inside of her. How dare he speak like that to her? Who did he think he was?

"Because everyone does have a price. You only have to offer higher and higher, so that you'll know what it is!" She answered, shouting at the boy.

"Well, I don't! I don't need anything just to be nice to some poor little rich bitch like you!"

Hikaru turned and walked away, entering the elevator that waited for him like a chauffeur. She watched as he entered the metal contraption, smirking at her next retort.

"You have a price too, Hitachiin. You just don't know it yet."

Kaoru looked to his brother, feeling uneasy as he sat beside him in the car.

It had something to do with Ayumi Kosaku and his little after school errand, he knew that, but what exactly was a hazy assumption. Kaoru looked over to his twin brother and sighed. He was mulling over something again.

Kaoru wasn't far off in his guess. Hikaru was bothered by Ayumi Kosaku but more to her absence from school for the past three weeks. Could it have been because if their afterschool meet-and-bash? He wondered. But that would have been too shallow for the likes of her.

"What happened there?" Kaoru remarked as their limo slowed to a respectful speed.

Kaoru leaned over looking through his brother's window.

"A vehicular accident, sir," their chauffeur answered, taking a peak at the roadside mishap.

"That's one horrible accident," Kaoru whistled, "the hood is completely totalled! And the trunk's missing."

"It's upside down...ask what happened?" Hikaru insisted.

Their driver stopped the car, rolling his window down. "What happened here?" he asked, one of the traffic guards coming by to answer.

"A young girl was driving down the road, probably didn't see the oncoming vehicle. Her car spun from swerving too quickly." He answered, looking at the poor woman lying on  
the gurney.

Hikaru looked his way as well, seeing her being placed in the ambulance. "Tell the maids that I'll be home late," he said quickly, exiting the car before Kaoru could say anything.

Hikaru crossed the police tape, ignoring the protests of the officer by his car. He ran to the ambulance but stopped when he was held back.

"This is a restricted zone. No civilians allowed."

"But that's a...a...a.."

"A what, kid?"

"A friend of mine."

"You can identify her then? No ID's could be found in the car with her. They must have fallen when her car did."

"She's Ayumi Kosaku."

"Thanks, kid. You want to come with us to the hospital?"

"Yes."

"Hop on."

Kaoru watched his brother enter the cop car. He wondered what he was doing, why he was following the victim's ambulance.

"Sir, shall we follow?"

Kaoru, if he didn't know his brother better, would have followed them in a heartbeat, but he knew better than that.

"No. Let's head home."

He'd ask him later. Though he wasn't sure he'd get any answers, Kaoru would still pester.

Hikaru sat at the waiting room, the doctors had wheeled Ayumi in two hours ago. The police had asked him questions and he answered them to the best of his ability. Now they left and he was alone again.

No one would tell him much, only that her injuries were far worse than they imagined. They had to put her through multiple surgeries and insert metal through her skin to set things straight.

They had questioned him about school caused injuries, if she had fallen recently or had she been physically bullied by some of the students.

That last one almost made him laugh, it took a lot out of him to stop his mouth from blurting out that she was the bully.

Hikaru looked around the waiting area, wondering where her family was. "Excuse me, but has Ayumi Kosaku's family been informed?" he asked the nurse that came out.

"Yes, they were informed two hours ago," she answered, heading to where she needed to be.

Hikaru sat himself back down, leaning on the seat with his hood up to cover his face.

"Where is Ayumi Kosaku's room?" a stern voice woke him up from his slumber.

Hikaru yawned slightly, looking over to the nearby reception desk. "She has just been moved to room 247."

"Is she awake?" the man asked, a roughness in his voice.

"She had been given anaesthesia a little over five hours ago. It will wear off in two hours," she explained, flashing a warm smile at the morose man.

He grunted, patting his hand on the desk. "Call me again when she wakes up."

Hikaru watched the events transpire. Who was that man he wondered? Maybe her grandfather perhaps? Or an uncle? That he didn't notice the aged woman in front of him.

"There you are, sweetie. I'm Nurse Ai. If you'd like, you can come to Ayu-chan's room now. The doctor's have cleared her off any dangers to her system."

"Um...I probably shouldn't," he replied, not knowing how to answer this woman.

"Don't be shy now. You've been waiting here for five hours, you practically have the right to see her," she joked, pulling him by the arm, "and besides, I think she'd love to see you. She doesn't get many visitors, you know."

Hikaru watched as the senior nurse fussed about Ayumi. She double checked her bandages and monitored her monitors with care.

He wondered if all nurses in this hospital were like her.

Ai felt eyes on her back, staring deep into her skull to try and find secrets that she'd rather keep. "How do you know Ayu-chan?" she asked, not bringing to light his rude staring.

"She's my school mate," he answered unsurely.

"A friend? That's wonderful! None of her school friends ever came to visit."

"Yeah. We recently got acquainted."

"That's fantastic," Nurse Ai replied, with a cheerfulness you couldn't pass as fake.

"What are you doing here?" an angry voice croaked, "get out!"

Nurse Ai turned her attention to Ayumi , who was trying to sit up with much difficulty. "Oh no, you don't. You're not getting off this bed. And be nice to him! He's been waiting in the hospital for five hours for you."

Ayumi clammed up, not knowing what to say. Nurse Ai looked between them, flashing one of her smiles. "I'll leave you two alone. I need to call your father anyway." She said, disappearing behind the door.

Hikaru scratched the back of his head, looking over at the banged up little girl. "Guess the Porsche is out of the question," he joked, finding nothing else to say.

"But the star still is. You up for that?" She picked up quickly, throwing back the sarcasm his way.

"I told you. I have no price."

"Everyone has a price."

"Well, mine is one you can't afford."

"Well played," she joked, managing a chuckle even when her ribs hurt.

"So, what happened?" he asked, looking over at her pathetic state.

"I should be asking you that," she teased, "seriously though, my car spun over and got hit by another vehicle. Not too bad." She muttered.

"Not too bad? Can't you see what just happened to you?" He asked angrily, knocking his chair down with the sudden force.

"Have you ever fallen off a cliff and into some raging rapids, then found four hours later with hypothermia?" Hikaru shook his head. "Then you wouldn't know what bad is."

Hikaru sat there talking with the girl he never imagined himself to ever get along with. Though it was true, that he adored her from afar, this up-close and personal twenty-seven questions was still the best thing that's ever happened to him.

Ayumi looked towards her window, seeing figures coming close. "Hikaru, can you get me something to drink?" she asked quickly, not waiting for him to finish his story.

"Sure," he replied unsurely, going out the doors.

Hikaru came back some minutes later, the vending machine choosing to put up a fight than to comply with his whim.

As he closed the room, heard shouting nearby.

"What in the world is the matter with you? Are you purposely trying to destroy my reputation? This is the second time in a month this happened!"

"You did this on purpose didn't you? Just so you can embarrass me again!"

"You are such an ungrateful child! I give and I give and you go out of your way just to screw me over! You are an incredible disappointment! And I am ashamed to call you my daughter!"

"Do you know how much you've set my schedule back having to drive here and see you? It's time I'm not getting back Ayumi! While you lay in that suite in one of our hotels, doing about absolutely nothing, I work my ass off trying to pay for expensive tastes!"

"Consider this a warning Ayumi. And once you can walk, you're going back to school and make the most of the money I spent."'

The door slammed around the corner and Hikaru watched as the stern man from earlier walked briskly away. Once he disappeared from sight, Hikaru turned the corner.

"Excuse me," he whispered, as Nurse Ai came his way, "who was that man?"

Nurse Ai sighed sadly, looking down the way the man came. "That was Haru Kosaku, Ayu-chan's father."

"Is he always like that?" he asked again.

"Unfortunately yes. Other times a lot worse."

"Does he hit her?"

"Oh heavens, no. He may be an ill-tempered man but he's not a violent one."

Hikaru nodded, moving to the room. "Oh, I never got your name dear," she said as she fixed the bed sheets on her tray.

"I'm Hikaru Hitachiin."

"Well Hikaru Hitachiin, thank you for coming here. This is the first time in 10 years that she's had a visitor." Hikaru wanted to ask her for an explanation but she was gone before he could.

He walked back into the room, seeing Ayumi staring into space. "I thought you would have left by now."

"Why?"

"You heard my father."

Hikaru sat down on the chair beside her, placing a drink on the table. He leaned back in his seat and looked at her.

"What?" She asked, looking at everything but Hikaru.

"Does he always do that?"

"Who?"

"Your dad! I can't believe he'd just scream at you after an accident like that!"

Hikaru sat up, the emotion in his words overwhelming him. It gave him the energy he never knew he had.

What her father just did to her was wrong, unbelievably wrong. How can he say such a thing to his daughter and how can she lie there just taking it?

"It's fine. Don't worry. I got to see him, that's all that matters," she assured, trying to sit up again.

Hikaru turned to look at her, a face of confusion flashing through. "What?"

"If the price of seeing my father in person is my life, then so be it. My life is quantitatively worthless really."

Hikaru stared at her with a look of disbelief. He didn't understand what she was saying. How can a person believe such a thing?

Ayumi noticed his look, how he'd open and close his mouth to try and find the words to explain the lack of sense her logic was showing.

"My life is like currency, it's used to pay for things. My father's attention mostly."

"What?" He asked again, still making no sense from what she was saying.

"My father is a philanderer. His wife now is his 17th. I'm just one of his many, many, many children from his sexual escapades. So as you can see, I come from an extremely large family, where everyone has to fight for his undivided attention."

"But, look at yourself! You're practically taped to the bed! You're a damned mummy!"

"I already told you, I'm fine. I've done worst things to myself." She turned her head away from him and closed her eyes. Hikaru gazed at her face, wanting to ask more questions than she was willing to answer.

He sighed exasperatedly, getting off his seat. "Fine," he said, heading to the door to leave, "but I'll be back tomorrow."

She didn't answer him but pretended to sleep. The sound of the door closing and the silence made her know that he had gone.

Ayumi didn't like it.

Hikaru woke up early the next day and the days soon after, he hoped to get a morning visit to the hospital before he started his day.

Ayumi was like a game to him, a puzzle just waiting to be solved. She was a fascinating woman once you broke the shallow outer shell.

"Ayumi! I brought you a present!" He called out, coming into her room with balloons and flowers.

"Did you send all of these?" She asked, sitting up on her own.

"You've made progress," he said, setting down a plastic bag on the nightstand.

"Yes I did. Did you send all of these?" She asked, eyebrow raised in suspicion.

"Yup! Do you like it? It's to make-up for not coming yesterday afternoon!"

"I guess so, but what's your price?"

"I already told you! I have no price."

Ayumi shook her head, "seriously, what is it?"

Hikaru thought for a Minute, looking at her unsurely. "I got it! You go out with me once you're well enough and we can call it even!"

"So this is all a ploy to ask me out?" She asked coyly, smirking at the flushed boy.

"Damn it! I have to get to school now! Bye Ayu-chan!"

Hikaru breathed heavily as he got into the car. That was a close call, he told himself. It wasn't really what she was thinking, not exactly anyway.

Getting her to go out with him was just the bonus.

Ayumi sat quietly in her room, wondering whether or not she should tell him. He had told her a lot of things about himself, secret things that not even his brother knew.

"I do this to myself you know."

He looked up from his work to her, "what?"

"I hurt myself on purpose. The car accident, the cliff dive, the falling down a stairwell when I was eleven; I did those all to myself. They were never accidents."

"What do you mean?" he asked, closing his text book.

"I purposely drove irresponsibly. I purposely threw myself off the cliff. I purposely tripped down the stairs."

Hikaru let his pencil drop to the floor, the object clattering loudly as it hit the ground. "Are you stupid?" He asked, getting off his seat.

"I see my father once a year over a video phone. Accidents like these are the only things that would allow me to see him. A broken arm is a small price to pay just to see him. Others have given up a lot more."

"Your father isn't worth you destroying yourself!"

"Don't say that about my father! He's the only thing I have left to call family!"

"What about your mom? Your step brothers and sisters?"

"My mom died giving birth to me and my so-called step families wouldn't care at all if I died!"

"But killing yourself! Are you insane!"

"I'm not dead now, am I?"

"Well you almost did. Twice!"

"How would you know?"

"BECAUSE I SAT OUTSIDE THAT GODDAMN OPERATING ROOM FOR FIVE HOURS!"

Ayumi sat quietly on her bed, not saying anything to the enraged boy. Hikaru stood with his hands on the bed, leaning over her with an angry look. It dared her to reply. To make a sassy sarcastic comment.

"I'm going home," he muttered, slamming the door behind him.

Hikaru sat sulking in the host club room, the rest of the club around him wondering what's gotten him so down.

Tamaki stood closer to the twin brother, whispering in his ear, "what's wrong with Hikaru?"

"I don't know," Kaoru sighed, looking over at his distant brother.

"Haruhi, can you get the door?" Kyoya ordered, taking a glance at his co-member's strange demeanour.

"Ah, Kosaku-san?" Haruhi asked, looking disbelievingly at the girl standing in front of her.

Ayumi stood stolidly at the door, wearing a leather jacket and boot cut pants. She was staring intently at the floor, giving off a nervous aura from her.

Kaoru turned to the door, hearing a name he hadn't heard in quite a while. "May I speak to Hikaru, please?" she asked in a tone that was foreign to all present.

"Club hours are over," Kaoru announced.

Ayumi nodded, "it's fine, then. I knew this was a bad idea anyway. But, if he is there, just tell him that he was right and that I'm sorry."

She turned her back on them, not waiting for any response. She knew she wasn't the most well liked person in that school and it didn't matter much to her, so it wasn't like she expected them to just let her waltz in there.

The going there had scared her but the thought of coming back to school was a lot scarier. She didn't know anymore who she was or what she wanted.

All she knew was what she didn't want. She didn't want those fake friends anymore, or her father paying the school for a guaranteed graduation. She didn't want to live being Haru Kosaku's daughter, she didn't want to be mooched on by strangers, she didn't want to be constantly followed by paparazzi anymore.

And most of all, she was tired of hurting herself to get his attention.

It wasn't worth it anymore.

"Ayumi! Ayumi!" She heard someone call.

She stopped in her tracks, recognizing the voice she grew to befriend. Ayumi turned around, looking at Hikaru who was running down the stairs.

He stopped his quick sprint, bending over to catch his breath. "I wanted to ask what you meant."

She looked down at him, his brow covered with sweat from running down all those stairs. "My father came to the hospital yesterday when I was released and began chastising me. I talked back to him and I realized he wasn't worth it anymore."

Hikaru stood up straight and looked at her face, "was that before or after he hit you?"

Ayumi looked at him with panicked eyes, bringing out a compact to see the side of her face. Her concealer was slowly coming off to show the dark pretty colours that was a bruise starting to worsen.

"It was the first time any of it happened. Don't bother about it."

He looked at her sternly, crossing his arms over his chest. "When will you come back to school? Maybe I can finally introduce you to my brother and the host club."

"Maybe," she suggested, trying to hide the alternative meaning in her words.

"What does that mean?"

"I'm not coming back to Ouran. I've decided that a public school is better for me. No one knows who I am nor care for that matter. I like it a lot more."

Hikaru shoved his hands into his pockets, looking thoughtfully down at his shoes.

"Do you still want your payment?" she asked him, giving a smile that only he and Nurse Ai ever saw.

He looked at her and grinned, "of course I do. But you still owe me for bringing home your homework for you."

"Done," she replied, smirking at the older Hitachiin.

"And what are you smirking for?" he asked.

"Told you, you had a price."


End file.
